view raw text
"BILLY" OLIVER AS A POET "W. I. "Billy" Oliver, trainer and owner, one-time champion sculler and amateur champion wrestler of New York, has exposed another anglo of his versatility by plunging into the intricacies of rhyme and meter. The effusion printed below U, according to report, not hia first, nor, according to rumor, will it be his last. It was inspired by prolonged contemplation of the memorial to Edgar Allan Poe in Baltimore, and, although the only possible connection it might have with racing is the delicate suggestion of "night mares," the veterans many friends and acquaintances will probably not consider the lines out of place in Daily Racing Form: There he is in silent statuary Which should have been dedicated long before, But now his memory is Hying from those clouds to sunshine Dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before. How oft he struggled on in. dire despair .- Unnoticed and untouched by kindness how unfair, : ,. But now-his fame resounds from shore to shore r- r Dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before. ; And the Raven, sitting mute above your chamber door. The empty room and vacant chair he sadly did deplore, -So he flapped his wings and flew away ... To that Plutonian shore ; " - To dream those dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before. . .. You left your lamp light dimly burning. , . Throwing its shadow on the floor, And by a route obscure and lonely You went to meet your lost Lcnore Where both can dream those dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before. Long have you slept since, undaunted by the rain. Under the dim light of a street lamp you wrote your way to fame. When your uninvited friend appeared and kindly did implore That you accept his shelter and write a little more. Instead, you gave a cordial hand and gently closed the door To dream that night some dreams you never dreamed before.
